The Global Technology Regulation (GTR) and the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) specify leg-injury criteria for pedestrian protection. The regulations are aimed at reducing the impact force to the legs of a pedestrian by a vehicle bumper during a vehicle-pedestrian impact.
Some vehicles, such as light duty trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), for example, may have a relatively high bumper height that could lead to an uneven impact on the femur and/or tibia of the pedestrian by the vehicle bumper during the vehicle-pedestrian impact. For example, light duty trucks may have relatively high bumper heights to provide ground clearance to clear speed bumps, curbs, parking blocks, inclined driveway ramps, hills, rough roads, etc. Some vehicles that have relative high bumper heights also have off-road capabilities that preclude having any components below the bumper. As such, there is an opportunity to design a vehicle front-end for pedestrian leg impact energy management while addressing ground clearance requirements.